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“It’s not Hogwarts, but we think it’s pretty good.”

Year 6 pupils from ARK Bentworth, King Solomon, ARK Oval and ARK Tindal have been visiting Wadham College to experience a taste of life at Oxford University.

After juice and biscuits, pupils asked first year students at Oxford about life at university. They wanted to know if it’s difficult to pay rent, how often students tidy their rooms and what happens if you don’t do your homework. Pupils also asked the all-important question of whether you’re allowed to own a console at university, looking delighted when they were told of the communal Xbox in the common room.

Hunting for relics

Pupils experienced a lecture in grand surroundings as they were taught about the various forms of learning at university, from lectures to seminars and 1:1 tutorials. They later enjoyed lunch in the 17th century Jacobean dining hall.

After lunch, pupils hunted for relics amongst the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, learning about how the museum supports research visits and how archaeological and ethnographic objects are used to understand different cultures.

“I want to go to Oxbridge even more now”

Jonathan from King Solomon Academy said: “I want to go to Oxford or Cambridge even more now. I’m interested in science because there are still lots of things that people haven’t discovered yet, so I’d like to be a heart surgeon or maybe an astrophysicist when I’m older.”

His classmate Adam added: “None of my family have been to university, so I thought the tour of the college was really helpful. I’m ten times more likely to go to university now!”

These taster days were the first events from our partnership with Wadham College. For more information about our university and careers success programmes, please email hannah.fletcher@arkonline.org.